MEDIA STAKEHOLDERS KNOCK NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SAYS PRESS COUNCIL BILL IS OUT TO CRIMINALIZE THE PRACTICE OF JOURNALISM IN NIGERIA

Media stakeholders comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’
Association of Nigeria, NPAN, the Nigeria Guild of Editors, NGE, and the
Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, have rejected the Nigerian Press Council
Bill 2018 currently before the National Assembly, crying out that the bill is
out to criminalize the practice of journalism in Nigeria.

In a communiqué issued at the end of a recent meeting to
deliberate on the bill, the three bodies who make up the Nigerian Press Organization,
said they “painstakingly studied the provisions of the proposed bill in the
context of its implication for free speech, press freedom, media independence,
safety of journalists and the right to operate as a business in accordance with
the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

They described the proposed bill as draconian,
unconstitutional and against the rule of law “as it runs against the principles
and tenets of the rule of law and is actually subjudice given that a case on
the subject matter is still pending in the highest court of the land – the
Supreme Court – in view of which the bill should not have been drafted in the
first instance.”

Noting that a lawsuit instituted by the NPO on the same
subject matter of the bill is pending at the Supreme Court, the stakeholders held
that “The bill is, for all intents and purposes, draconian and anti-press
freedom being an amalgamation of the obnoxious Public Officers Protection
Against False accusation Decree No. 4 of 1984 and the Newspapers Registration
Decree 43 of 1993, both vestiges of the dark days of military rule and
therefore incurably and irreparably bad, being also inconsistent with values of
our democratic society.”

The communiqué also noted that the bill “seeks to criminalize
journalism practice despite the fact that the laws of the country already have
enough provisions and avenues for seeking legal redress.”

The NPO and the other media stakeholders described the bill
as an attempt at undue interference in the operations of the media in Nigeria
as businesses registered under the relevant laws of the federation, stating
that the bill seeks for the Nigeria Press Council to usurp the powers of the
courts by assuming extra-judicial powers.

According to them, “The bill seeks to incapacitate the media
in the exercise of the duties and obligations imposed on it by section 22 of
the constitution to monitor governance and hold government accountable to the
people. The section states as follows, ‘The press, radio, television and other
agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental
objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and
accountability of the Government to the people’. The bill violates the
provisions of section 39 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) sections 1 and 2
of which state as follows:

“(1) every person shall be entitled to freedom of
expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas
and information without interference.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of
this section, every person shall be entitled to own, establish and operate any
medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions,” the
communiqué stated.

The Nigerian media stakeholders also argued that the bill
violates Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
(Ratification and Enforcement Act) No. 2 of 1983 to which Nigeria is a
signatory and which is now part of the country’s laws.

“The bill through some of its other obnoxious provisions
seeks to indoctrinate Nigerians, THROUGH THE USE AND MISUSE of curricula in
training of journalists and usurp the powers of the regulatory bodies in the
educational sector affecting media training especially the National
Universities Commission and the National Board for Technical Education. The
bill seeks to create the impression that the Nigerian media community does not
take the issues of ethics and self regulation seriously whereas it is a well
known fact that the mechanisms actually exist including the Code of Conduct of
Journalists in Nigeria, the Ethics Committees of the NUJ and NGE and the
recently launched Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage endorsed by media
stakeholders,” the communiqué explained.

The communiqué urged the National Assembly to drop the bill
until the determination of a similar case in the Supreme Court of Nigeria,
stressing that the Nigerian Senate should borrow from best practices in other
jurisdictions that has expressly provided for and guaranteed press freedom
without any form of government interference.

“The Senate and indeed The National Assembly should enable
the media in the exercise of its constitutional obligations as spelt out in
section 22 by passing laws that will promote transparency, accountability and
open government such as mandatory delivery of the State of the Nation address
by the President and State of The State Address by Governors on specified days
of the year; ensuring by law, Presidential and Governorship Election Debates
before elections; complete transparency in election funding including public
declaration of sources of election finance by all candidates and political
parties and ensuring the integrity of our electoral process,” the communiqué
added.

The NPO expressed the commitment that as responsible members
of the Nigerian society, the media would continue to “promote media ethics,
professionalism, transparency, accountability and self-regulation, to ensure
that public interest is served at all times”.

Others who signed for the media stakeholders include
Director, International Press Center, Mr. Lanre Arogundade; Executive Director,
Institute for Media and Society, Dr. Akin Akingbulu; and the Director, Media
Law Center, Mr. Richard Akinnola.

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